Applications in the millimeter-wave frequency regime have gained significant interest in the past few years due to the rapid advancement in low cost semiconductor technologies such as silicon germanium (SiGe) and fine geometry complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) processes. Availability of high-speed bipolar and metal-oxide semiconductor (MOS) transistors has led to a growing demand for integrated circuits for mm-wave applications at 60 GHz, 77 GHz, and 80 GHz, and also beyond 100 GHz. Such applications include, for example, automotive radar systems, multi-gigabit communication systems, and wearable consumer devices such as smart watches, activity monitors and health monitors.
In some radar systems, the distance between the radar and a target is determined by transmitting a frequency modulated signal, receiving a reflection of the frequency modulated signal, and determining a distance based on a time delay and/or frequency difference between the transmission and reception of the frequency modulated signal. Accordingly, some radar systems include a transmit antenna to transmit the RF signal, a receive antenna to receive the RF, as well as the associated RF circuitry used to generate the transmitted signal and to receive the RF signal. In some cases, multiple antennas may be used to implement directional beams using phased array techniques.